Dolphins hold off Rebels' rally

Thomas Heyward Academy followed a similar script at Hilton Head Preparatory School on Friday: Get behind big at halftime, get challenged by the coaching staff, rally in the second half.

Only this sequel didn't have a happy ending for the Rebels.

After notching a comeback win last week against First Baptist, the Rebels came up short in a 42-28 loss to Hilton Head Prep.

Prep (4-4, 2-2 SCISAA region 2-AA) may have had a 20-point lead at the half, but the game didn't start out that well. The Dolphins had to take a safety on their first possession after a shotgun snap sailed over quarterback Matt Layman's head.

The Rebels (3-5, 1-3 region) added a Perry Pender touchdown run to take an early 8-0 lead.

"We came out in the first quarter and played real hard," Pender said. "Second quarter, we went back to our old ways. I had two turnovers, which didn't help."

Hilton Head Prep's offense recovered on its second possession as Layman got in sync with his receivers. The sophomore would complete his first nine passes and miss just one receiver in 14 first-half attempts.

"We just had to push on forward," Layman said. "They got the first (eight) points of the quarter and we just had to persevere."

Layman threw all three of his touchdown passes in the first half, hooking up with DeAnte Scott on a 56-yard swing pass, Dylan Rosser on a 30-yard screen pass and Kevin Orford for a 10-yard score on a rollout.

"I had time to throw, the offensive line was great, and the receivers ran the right routes," Layman said. "Everything was there. We read the zone perfectly."

Even when his team had a 35-15 lead at halftime, Dolphins coach Ron Peduzzi wasn't comfortable.

"They're not going to die," Peduzzi said. "They're not going to quit. That's Thomas Heyward."

Pender sparked Thomas Heyward's second-half resurgence with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that made it 35-22 Dolphins.

"Any time you have a kickoff returned to open the half, that motivates everybody," Rebels coach Mike Tuten said. "We just waited too long to come back."

Thomas Heyward's defense tightened up its pass defense in the second half, forced a key fumble and kept Prep out of the end zone until the waning moments of the fourth quarter.

The Rebels pulled within six points on a JA Malphrus 2-yard touchdown run, but a costly blunder after a defensive stand proved to be more than the Rebels could overcome.

After Thomas Heyward had forced Prep into a three-and-out on its next possession, Rebel linebacker Eric Horton was flagged for roughing the punter trying to block the kick

"The roughing the kicker (penalty) was obviously a mistake," Tuten said. "But it was an aggressive mistake. Do I like it? No. But I'll take an aggressive mistake from a kid going hard."

The penalty kept the drive alive and the Dolphins took advantage. Peduzzi turned to Rosser's power running to keep the clock running.

The bruising senior running back gouged Heyward's defense as the time ticked off the clock.

"We're known for our passing," Rosser said. "We always knew the line could run block. They opened up the field for me and I was running for 10 yards a pop."

Creighton Quinn capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 37 seconds left that put the game away.

The win gives the Dolphins a foothold in the battle for the last playoff spot. The Rebels will need to win out and get some help to still have a shot at the playoffs.

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Thomas Heyward	8	7	7	6	28
Hilton Head Prep	7	28	0	7	42

First Quarter
THA--Safety (ball snapped through the back of the end zone), 10:38.
THA--Perry Pender 3 run (pass failed), 7:08.
HHP--Kevin Glick 1 run (Tom Thomas kick), 3:16.

Second Quarter
HHP--Dylan Rosser 30 pass from Matt Layman (Thomas kick kick), 9:57.
HHP--Kevin Orford 10 pass from Layman (Thomas kick), 6:46.
THA--Brook Youmans 9 pass from JA Malphrus (Jack Rainey kick), 5:10.
HHP--DeAnte Scott 56 pass from Layman (Mike DeGraef pass from Layman), 4:58.
HHP--Rosser 3 run (Thomas kick), 1:50.

Third Quarter
THA--Pender 90 kickoff return (Rainey kick), 11:44.

Fourth Quarter
THA--Malphrus 2 run (kick blocked), 6:59.
HHP--Creighton Quinn 2 run (Thomas kick), 7:35.

	THA	HHP
First downs	18	22
Rush	14	12
Pass	2	9
Pen.	2	1
Rushes-yards	50-288	21-107
Comp-Att-Int	6-14-0	23-30
Passing yards	101	317
Return yards	177	34
Punts	1-23	2-31.5
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	4-1
Penalties-Yards	5-50	2-24
Third-down conv.	5-10	3-8
Fourth-down conv.	2-2	0-0
Time of Possession	20:41	27:19

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Thomas Heyward, JA Malphrus 21-108, Perry Pender 16-125, Jeremy Tindal 13-55. Hilton Head Prep, Dylan Rosser 11-77, Creighton Quinn 4-13, Matt Layman 3-10, Kevin Glick 2-1, DeAnte Scott 1-6.

PASSING--Thomas Heyward, Malphrus 5-11-0 98, Pender 1-3-0 3. Hilton Head Prep, Layman 23-30-0 317.

RECEIVING--Thomas Heyward, Corey Tuten 2-37, Logan Mock 1-14, Brook Youmans 1-9, Pender 1-8, Malphrus 1-3. Hilton Head Prep, Mike DeGraef 7-77, Scott 5-116, Kevin Orford 5-44, Rosser 4-73, Quinn 2-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS--Thomas Heyward, Jack Rainey 35 (wide left).